Amy stared at all the items she'd bought to cast the love spell, debating what to do with them now that she had changed her mind. I'll definitely keep this, she thought, picking up the petal-pink, rose-scented candle and setting it on a shelf above the desk in the corner of her bedroom that the rest of the spell ingredients stood upon.

She looked at the rest of the items, most of them various herbs, and frowned as she tried to think of what to do with them. Some of them were useful for cooking, but she also couldn't stand how they tasted. Ultimately she shrugged and put them in her cupboards anyway.

Her thoughts kept turning to Shadow and their... what even was that? They were barely friends, although that seemed to be changing quickly. And Amy still didn't want to think of it as a date, even though it totally felt like one.

And maybe she wouldn't have minded if it was a date...

But it wasn't. She wasn't falling for Shadow. Not when he'd done so much to get in the way of Sonic and been such a jerk to him in the past. Even if Sonic didn't like her the way she loved him, she still thought it would be a betrayal. Being friends was one thing, and maybe he had really changed. But Amy refused to let herself fall for Shadow.

Besides, she needed to get over Sonic before she even thought about dating anyone.

But still, Amy couldn't get him out of her head. After a little while, she groaned, grabbing her phone and coat and heading out her front door. She needed to talk to someone who wasn't Shadow.

Surprisingly, Amy found herself walking over to Blaze's house. Her heart thumped in her chest, and she had no idea why she came here out of all places. But she decided keep going, and she approached the front door and knocked.

A few minutes went by and nothing happened. She was about to turn around and leave when the door finally opened, and she saw Blaze's eyes widen. "Oh, hello," she said. "This is quite the surprise."

Amy nodded, chuckling nervously. "Yeah... I just umm... kinda wanted to chat if that's okay. I haven't had a lot of time to socialize for a while and I miss you and everyone."

Blaze hesitated for a moment, then nodded and invited Amy in. "Would you like anything? Water, tea?"

"No, thank you," Amy replied. There was something off about Blaze's behavior, but she wasn't quite sure what it was. Normally the lavender cat was a lot more relaxed around her. They weren't best friends or anything, but they'd talked enough that Amy knew something was up. "Did I come at a bad time?" she asked.

Blaze shook her head quickly. "No!" she said. "I just... I guess I'm... a little nervous about why you came over."

Amy was taken aback by this. "Nervous? Why are you nervous?"

"I mean... we all knew you liked Sonic, Amy," Blaze said, her tone a little frantic. "That's why I never said anything, because I didn't want to lose you as a friend. I liked him too. For a while. And when he asked me out... I guess I was so excited that I didn't think it through before I said yes and now--"

"Blaze," Amy said. "I'm not mad at you. I never was. Jealous, heck yeah, and I still am. But that doesn't mean I don't still want to be your friend. I came over because... I just needed a distraction from something else."

Blaze relaxed visibly, and Amy saw little streams of smoke rising from her hands. It seemed like Blaze was worried enough that her flames had risen to her palms, and been extinguished when Amy explained herself. Am I really that scary? Amy thought. Then she remembered all the times she'd chased Sonic around with her hammer whenever he angered her and cringed inwardly. Yep, I'm that scary.

"Well," said Blaze. "Sonic and I do have a date in a little over an hour, but we can definitely talk until then. I've missed you too."

Amy smiled, and as she and Blaze chatted about everything and nothing at the same time, her worries about both Sonic and Shadow melted away. It was just a stream of fun, ultimately meaningless conversation, and it was just what she'd needed.

After a while, another knock sounded at the door, and Amy's heart sank as she realized Blaze had to leave. And that Sonic was the one knocking.

Blaze smiled apologetically. "Well," she said. "Time for me to go. But this was fun. Hopefully things slow down and we can hang out more in the near future."

"Me too," said Amy as she stood up to leave. "Vanilla is giving me some time off right now, but there's still... a lot going through my head. I don't know how much I'll be visiting people. But you can text me anytime!"

They gave each other a hug, and then Amy went to open the door, coming face to face with a startled Sonic. She waved, then gestured for him to move aside, saying, "Pardon me."

Sonic didn't say anything, and he looked a little freaked out. She couldn't really blame him now, having remembered what a little terror she had been. So she smiled and waved at him as she left. "Have fun, you guys!" she called over her shoulder.

"Thanks, Ames!" came Sonic's voice behind her. It still hurt that they were together, and it was taking a lot for her not to start crying right then and there. But it hurt less than it had before. There wasn't any anger anymore. Only sadness. But even then, seeing the two of them happy made her happy too, even if it was almost smothered beneath the rain clouds lingering in her chest.

A/N: Hi, guys! A little shorter, this one, but I feel like it was important. Honestly, this whole fic is kind of a vent for me in a lot of ways and I'm basing Amy's situation off of my own experiences in several ways. And the role Blaze is playing is one parallel to the one that one of my best friends played. Like Amy, I was never really mad at that friend. I was jealous, but I never faulted them. And that was a really important part of my journey, and I felt it should be important for Amy's too.

Okay, that's it. Hope you all are still enjoying this! There'll be more Shadow and Amy interaction in the next chapter, I promise!